Saginaw man pleads to November shooting during home invasion, faces 20-plus years

View full sizeFile | The Saginaw NewsPolice tape surrounds 3618 Fulton, where Jacob C. Davenport broke into the home and shot one resident in the stomach.

SAGINAW, MI — A Saginaw man will spend at least 22 years in prison for a November shooting during a home invasion.

Jacob C. Davenport III, 26, appeared before Saginaw County Circuit Judge James T. Borchard on Tuesday, the day his trial was scheduled to begin, and pleaded no contest to 14 felonies.

Davenport pleaded no contest to assault with intent to commit armed robbery, first-degree home invasion, assault with intent to commit great bodily harm less than murder, resisting and obstructing a police officer, and 10 firearm offenses.

After a Cobbs hearing, Borchard indicated that the minimum sentence he will hand down will be between 20 and 25 years. The judge then will determine the maximum; Davenport's habitual offender-fourth offense status makes the maximum life in prison. Davenport first must serve the mandatory two-year prison sentence for possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.

It's not clear if Davenport will serve the larger sentence concurrently with the 17-month to 20-year prison sentence he currently is serving for safebreaking and possessing burglars tools.

Much like Dana D. Harris, another defendant in Borchard's courtroom, Davenport initially said he wanted to proceed to trial instead of accepting the plea agreement. After the lunch hour and Davenport changed from his state Department of Corrections blue jumpsuit into street clothes, he changed his mind and accepted the deal.

If Davenport had proceeded to trial and was convicted as charge, his state sentencing guidelines would have placed his minimum sentence at between 18 years and nine months to 62 years and six months.

Davenport was charged in a Nov. 20 incident at 3618 Fulton near East Genesee and Webber on Saginaw's East Side. Davenport was charged with possessing a .25-caliber handgun and a 9mm handgun and shooting Daniel Cavazos and assaulting him and Gilbert Gonzales.

Police have said that officers found the then-42-year-old Cavazos inside the home suffering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the stomach. Officers found Davenport outside the home and arrested him, police said.

Davenport pleaded no contest, which is not an admission of guilt but means that he does not contest that prosecutors' evidence would convict him, because of possible civil litigation.